Constellations, Zodiac

a cluster of stars, or stars which appear to be near each other in the heavens, and which astronomers have reduced to certain figures (as the “Great Bear,” the “Bull,” etc.) for the sake of classification and of memory

In Isaiah 13:10, where this word only occurs, it is the rendering of the Hebrewkesil, i.e., “fool.” This was the Hebrew name of the constellation Orion (Job 9:9; 38:31), a constellation which represented Nimrod, the symbol of folly and impiety. The word some interpret by “the giant” in this place, “some heaven-daring rebel who was chained to the sky for his impiety.”